The Warrior and The Rose
by CarvedFromAshes
Summary: A small girl with the name Meigui, starts to have feelings for Lu Bu but will he feel the same? or will her friend Zhang He stop it?
1. Chapter 1 The Rose

The Warrior and the Rose

1

I was standing on a small log, watching Liu Qi train some of the other soldiers; I nodded while continuing on my walk around the training grounds.

\"Ah Commander Kuwei, How are you this morning?" he asked politely. I bowed in return to him, "Just fine Qi" he nodded, and walked away back towards the soldiers.

"Meigui" I turned and saw our Leader and the Warlord of Wei. "Lord Cao Cao!" I bowed before him.

"What are you doing?" "I'm making sure Liu Qi is training the soldiers properly, so you may succeed in your conquest to take over the other kingdoms, and unite the lands and rule over them as you deserve, my lord" I said still bowing.

"Hmm…I see, Report to the Zhang He and my son Cao Pi, we will attack Bei Ping, and take the area from Sun Jian" he said gruffly.

He had on a purple shirt with a silverfish purple armor plate that covered his shoulders, and the top part of his chest. He had a purple and blue armor mid-waist on, and had on purple pants that looked like scales of a serpent of sorts.

The bottom of his pants had to gold rows, and went to his boots which were a lighter purple and blue color.

The boots had a frill and he had brown leather straps around his ankles. His pants had excess fabric that reminded me of a half skirt since there was no fabric is the front. His weapon was a long sword, the handle was decorated in gold and silver with a few gems welded in, he a small crown type thing on his head that was purple with gold lining. "Yes, my lord" I said bowing again.

He turned and walked away, I had to hide an eye twitch. I hated that bastard, but my family served his for many years, sadly I must follow traditions or I shall shame the Kuwei-Rong family name.

I will not follow in my brother's footsteps; he said no to lord Cao Cao and paid with his life.

He was ruthless, but he was also a fearless, powerful leader. He would stop at nothing to bring honor and glory to the Cao family name. I respected him for that, but I also despised the man.

I walked off and found his son and Zhang He, standing in the middle of the garden.

"Zhang He, Lord Pi" I said. I hated referring to his son as such, but it couldn't be helped. Zhang He bowed to me, and I bowed in return.

I also did a deep bow to Cao Pi; after all he was the son of our leader. "You're looking beautiful as always, Meigui" Zhang He said.

I smiled at the flamboyant man; he was in his usual purple armor top, which showed his midriff strangely. He was about six foot maybe a couple inches shorter, and had on his usual purple pants as well that looked like he had chains wrapped around the legs. He had purple boots with a frill at the top. It was pretty girly, I must say. His weapon was a pair of iron claws that were about 3 feet long give or take.

The wrist band part was lined with gold, and had flares on the back, that reminded me of flower petals of sorts. His hair was in his usual ponytail, it had a clip on top and then he had fabric wrapped around the middle part. His skin was pale with a slight tan, and his eyes were a pale green. I had to smile again; he also had a fancy for dancing. "You're looking quite dashing as usual Zhang He" I replied.

I turned to the War-lord's son Cao Pi; He was six-foot-one, he had on a purple tunic with sliver and dark purple armor.

He had on the usual hakamas, and had purple boots with a gold band around the ankle. He had dark brown hair like Zhang He, only a bit lighter.

It was in a low ponytail, less elegant then Zhang He's high-ponytail. It went past his shoulders; he had pale green eyes, which had a tint of blue to them.

His weapon of choice was two swords on either end of a short staff, the middle was purple with a gold line swirled around it and the blades had gold handles that went down the top of the blades itself. I started to notice people under Cao Cao were fond of purple.

I wondered where Zhen Ji was, she was Cao Pi's wife. Then as if right on queue; Zhen Ji walked up.

She was taller than most women, her hair was a deep shade of brown and she kept in a weird bun style kept in place by a gold clip and has a long gold stick, with a flower bud of sorts on one end going through it. Her eyes were a golden yellow color; she also had a beauty mark under her left eye.

She wore a top that stopped right below her breasts. It was purple around the outside of the chest and brown in the middle with gold outlining it, the folded fabric of the top was black with yellow designs.

It had a collar that stopped just about the middle of her neck and had pieces of fabric that looked like leafs on the collar.

The shirt had one sleeve that was long starting the brown color, and went into the purple which extended to form a glove and had a gold band around the wrist. The other was a slide on purple sleeve and went from the middle of her upper arm to her wrist.

He bottoms was a skirt that showed her left leg fully and you could partially see her right leg if she stood at an angle.

It was purple and the bottom faded to black with gold designs going all around the bottom similar to the top. The top part of the skirt had green fabric wrapped around the front and back of the skirt.

Her boots were a brown with gold outlining. They made a V-shape in the front and back and gave another good two inches to her height.

She was beautiful; Cao Pi should feel lucky since a lot of men check her out a lot. "Ah, Zhen Ji, is something wrong love?" Cao Pi asked.

"No, just thought I'd talk with my favorite Commander" she said waving a hand towards me. I had to raised an eyebrow,

"Me, your favorite? Well that's news to me" I replied. She smiled softly, "You are, compared to these beasts" she said with a small smirk, looking at her husband.

He smiled back "You speak so ill of me, my love" she leaned forward and gave him a small kiss before turning away and facing me.

I looked up at her; she was a lot taller than me. I was rather short, but it did make opponents underestimate me, which is turn they got their asses kicked.

"So I hear we're taking Bei Ping from that Sun Jian?" she asked me. I nodded "Yes, Lord Cao Cao despises him and Sun Jian despises Lord Cao Cao in return.

He's not fond of the Cao family in general" I said in a matter-o-fact tone. I always researched our targets, before doing anything.

Even though he had a royal advisor, Lord Cao Cao came to me asking what to do with preparations, and to ask about the enemy themselves.

Cao Pi and Zhen Ji walked off, leaving me alone with Zhang He. "When this is over, I shall teach how to dance elegantly" he said in his slight deep tone.

"Oh? Is there something wrong with how I dance now?" I asked. "Yes, it could be so more elegant and beautiful, you lack the proper poise for that" he declared.

I laughed, "Well if it's that bad, I guess I should let you teach me" I said.

He smiled and nodded. Strangely enough once my brother died Zhang He was my closet friend.

Yes, I talked to Zhen Ji but she was the only other female in Lord Cao Cao's army. It was weird, but he understood me well.

My mother Zhu Rong was in Nanman, where she followed the leader Meng Huo. My father passed away three years after I was born, my mother tried to make sure Cao Cao didn't find me, but it seemed destiny and fate had a different plan for me; he found me and demanded I serve him like my ancestors before me.

I hated every second of it, but if I left that would shame all my ancestors and prove that, I myself was weak.

I walked down the stone walk way, and went to where the army was waiting. Zhang He and Cao Pi had their units ready; they were waiting for me to arrive.

I walked in front of my unit, "Today we will be charging into battle, Sun Jian's Commanders Lu Xun, Lu Meng and Taishi Ci are going to be our greatest problem"

I saw a few soldier's faces go pale. "Fear not men, I have confidences that you will prevail! You will bring all those who stand in our way to their knees! They shall beg for mercy at your hands! They will know what true fear is when we storm their camps, without mercy! We shall show them why Lord Cao Cao shall soon unite and rule the lands! They will learn to fear his might; they will soon bow before us! You shall bring them to their knees! I want you to go out and prove to Lord Cao Cao that you have honor, strength and courage! Let us show them not to stand in our way! They will know our power; they shall fall before us in awe! Now let us move forward and show those cowards that they must pay for their insolence!"

I raised my arm holding my katana.

It was five feet long, had a black and purple handle, and decorated with purple, pink and blue feathers.

The blade itself was pristine silver that had a tint of purple with a thin line of gold going down the middle on either side.

My katana dwarfed me by some height, but it effective and people often fell to their knees in awe.

My soldiers let out a series of war cries, a stable boy brought me my war horse Takai. He was black but his back was white and his front legs had small white spots on them, he was a shire and he was a fearsome sight to behold, his eyes were an actual red color.

I had to literally jump on his back, and raised my sword again, "Now let us go and take the land from the likes of Sun Jian!" I tapped Takai's side, and started heading towards Bei Ping.

I was riding in the middle; while Zhang He was on my left and Cao Pi was on my right. "Your men seem to be in high spirits" Zhang He said softly.

"I just gave them a pep talk of sorts, nothing more, the higher their spirits the harder they fight" I replied looking at the sunset. "It's amazing, they all say they hate following because you're a woman and you have cruel sense of training and yet they will blindly follow you into battle, it's strange to have such loyalty from soldiers, who claim to hate you" Cao Pi said in a thoughtful tone.

I laughed lightly, "Loyalty is what you need, if you want win and crush all those who stand in your way of victory, you must crush them beneath your feet and show them what true power is" I said, while taking Takai into a brisk trot.

"Now Cao Pi, you said your little hex mark could beat my mount? How about you prove it then?" I said.

"You two go, I will stay with the soldiers" Zhang He said, watching me and Cao Pi closely.

I tapped Takai's side "Yah!" I was surprised he reared up letting out a loud whiny. He took off and Cao Pi was right behind with his Hex Mark,

"Let's go Takai" I said tapping his sides lightly. Cao Pi was always right behind, but never could get any further.

We made it to our camp in Bei Ping and about twenty minutes later, Zhang He arrived with the soldiers who were grinning at Cao Pi.

"Guess she got the best of ya" one soldier said to him. He grimaced,

"Enough! Meigui said her and her soldiers will move in on nightfall to take out a couple bases quietly and then we will attack! They will learn to fear us!" Cao Pi's voice boomed.

"We shall dance through the enemy camp with grace and poise; we shall show them that beauty is deadly!" Zhang He cried.

"Let us crush them beneath without mercy! Leave them no hope, no faith! Let us invoke fear into their fragile hearts!" I yelled.

All the soldiers let out loud war cries. "Let us show them we fight for honor, glory and for power!" Cao Pi yelled raises his blades.

I raised my katana and Zhang He raised one of his claws. "Now my men let us go and take out the defense bases quietly" I exclaimed.

I tapped Takai's sides and eased him in a silent walk. We came upon our first target; the base had a wooden fence with two openings.

They weren't cautious apparently. I moved closer and took out my bow, I pulled out an arrow and lite the tip on fire.

I aimed at one of the guard captains and fired. The arrow went through his skull, and into another. We stormed the base quietly and effectively.

I sent a hawk with the message that our first take over was a success, we moved on to the other bases one by one all the defenses fell.

I rode back with my men, and told Cao Pi and Zhang He the good news. "Excellent, I will send a report to my father immediately, and let him know that the defenses are gone" Cao Pi said. I nodded and unrolled my bed roll lying by the fire; I watched the light from the flames dance around the camp.

Cao Pi stated he was going to go ahead and scout to see if anyone was aware of our presence yet. I nodded and felt someone behind me, "Zhang He?"

"Yes?" I looked back at him. "What are you doing?" "Cao Pi told me to stay close to you in case there were any intruders, and this is as close as I can get" he replied.

Well I was pretty he fancied men over women, so I guess I was fine.

I continued to lay there with my eyes closed, not really caring about Zhang He.

I finally fell asleep, dreaming of getting away from Cao Cao and never having to help, serve or see him again.

I awoke the next morning; Zhang He and Cao Pi were already making plans but seemed uneasy. "Is something wrong, boys?" I asked softly.

"Cao Pi said he saw a small force from Jiao Zhi, Their leader is someone named Lu Bu and people say he is fierce warrior and rumor is he has two commanders with him" Zhang He said in an annoyed tone.

"Let me take care of them, you two focus on defeating Sun Jian's troops, I'll focus on the unwanted new-comers OK?" I said with a serious expression.

"Are you sure Meigui? These new-comers could be very threatening" Cao Pi said.

I gave him a wicked smile, that made people cringe in fear, "Cao Pi, I am more than capable of taking out this small unwanted force, it'll be over before it even starts! So let me handle them, my men and I will storm their camp like a raging typhoon, they will not know what hit them, right boys?"

I looked back at my soldiers "Yeah!" was a response from all of them.

I jumped up on Takai, and raised my sword to the rising sun. "They shall regret step foot in this land!" I yelled with authority,

I tapped Takai's sides with a little bit more force and rode off with my soldiers. I came to halt and saw the leader, Lu Bu.

He was a very tall man, he had dark brown hair that was spiked backwards, he had some hair on either side that were slightly longer than the rest of his hair.

His armor was somewhat strange to me to, it was red purple and had gold slapped in.

His clothes under his armor were grey; his pants had red bands around them. The armor itself was purple lined silver plates with red marking on the breast plate, he had fabric on top of the armor that was red and was decorated with gold in the shape of a golden beast.

His pants had armor that was purple metal with some swirls in the lining; the plates themselves were metal and had crisscross X's on them.

His boots were metal, they were red and grey with thick red bands around the ankles, and the shoe of the boot was gold with odd designs and had one sharp tip curving up like a horn.

There was a sharp point on either side of the curved tip that stuck straight out, reminded me of some type of animal claw.

His weapon was a Halberd it had a golden handle that had a fake golden snake wrapped around it.

One end had dark purple metal with sharp points on both sides and formed into a jagged sharp end and the other was like any other spear head with gold welded into it. His second in command was a small, dainty woman.

She had on a pink kimono; the middle was a very dark pink. The back of the kimono had fabric under the actual kimono that made a skirt type piece hang down in the back with yellow and purple fringes.

The Kimono had a dark yellow belt with one strip of purple in the between the yellow that was tied into a bow and had purple fabric fading into pink.

She had light purple leggings and light purple dancing shoes; her hair was up in a bun.

Her headdress if you will, with a gold crown of sorts, that had thin gold sticks sticking out of one sides designed like flowers, and on the other side she pink flowers in the bun.

He skin was a pinkish peach color. Her eyes from what I could see were a very bright blue; her weapon was a pair of maces.

They started out gold then had a thick band of blue, then another band of gold and the top of the mace was all blue.

There was a gold tip at the top and pink flowers around the top of the mace.

His second commander was an old man, he had on a headband that made him look like he had all his hair styled up in a fan shape,

he had a long white mustache that curved outward and had a goatee that was as long as his neck. He had a purple tattoo on his right eye,

he had on a white kimono that had some blue thrown in.

He had the yin yang symbol on a piece of white fabric. The fabric was strapped up by two straps; his weapon was a deck of cursed deck.

He gave me the creeps, "We shall take this land and show the three kingdoms that they are not the only ones who can take control and gain power! We shall show them how destructive our force can be, they will tremble in fear at the mere sight of us!" The leader said.

"Lord Lu Bu, there was a report that there is force from Cao Cao's kingdom, he has three of his Commanders are here, we can take the land and then we can take part of his army as well and let ours grow larger" The girl said,

'Diao Chan is right my Lord, this could be beneficial to our army and our land" the old man replied.

"Zuo Ci, can you find out about the three commanders from Cao Cao's forces?" Lu Bu said. "Why one is spying us right now" the old man replied looking at me.

"Shit…" I muttered and looked at my men. "Charge..!" I yelled, I raised my sword and my men marched forward.

"Attack!" Lu Bu demanded, I watched with wide eyes as his soldiers cut my down like reeds near the shore of the river.

"Oh no…Retreat!" I barked, "Yah!" I slapped my heel into Takai's side and turned him around and took off at a full gallop, my soldiers were running fastest then I thought possible.

"Zhang He! Cao Pi!" I yelled; they both ran out of their tents. "Where are you soldiers, Meigui?" Zhang He asked softly

"A lot of them are dead…" I said breathlessly.

"How can this be? You're soldiers were strong and they were fierce fighters"

"This leader, Lu Bu, his soldiers cut mine down like they were thin reeds, I had no choice but to retreat. He had at least twenty thousand troops; along with his two commanders, I stood no chance" I said.

I couldn't believe six thousand troops were dead leaving with some three thousand left. "His two commanders are a dainty woman and an old man, Diao Chan and Zou Ci, the girl fights with maces and the old man fights with a cursed deck" I said looking down at the ground.

Zhang He touched my leg lightly, "Meigui?"

"Zhang He, I led my men to their death, because I thought they could defeat anyone, I was overly confident. That got them killed Zhang He, it's my fault all my men died, and were slaughtered like animals." I said looking down,

"They will regret messing with our affairs" Cao Pi said walking out of his tent with the hawk.

"I will send word to my father, now let us go attack them, you can avenge their death's Meigui, so let's do it" he said his voice booming across the camp.

I nodded and tapped Takai's sides as the other two got on their hex marks. We marched and saw Lu Bu's forces coming over the horizon.

"Please ancestors, watch over us as we face this new found danger" I said under my breath.

"Protect us please, or at least let them show us mercy if we should lose" I muttered. We stood on a hill watching his forces advance,

"There's Cao Cao's forces… Attack without mercy" Lu Bu said coldly.

"Meigui, if me and Zhang He fail, I want you to ride back to my father and let him know was has happened" Cao Pi said sternly.

"Yes, sir" I said bowing my head. I pulled out my bow, letting out a low snarl, my archers did the same, I pulled out six arrows and lite the tips on fire,

I aimed them and let them fly into the mass of their soldiers. I continued shooting arrows in great masses.

My soldiers also kept shooting and charged at his soldiers; Lu Bu's soldiers were falling. "Zhang He, Cao Pi, attack the other two commanders,

Lu Bu is mine to deal with!" I declared in a voice that left no room for arguments. They nodded and rode off into battle,

Zhen Ji had sent more soldiers for a replacement, that hawk was a fast one.

They were only twenty-two minutes away, I continued firing arrows and killing off Lu Bu's mass.

Finally they all arrived on horses that were never used for war. They all dismounted and charged and started cutting down Lu Bu's forces helping mine,

they slaughtered his soldiers like he did my own. I took a deep breath,

"Ancestors, lend me your strength to overcome this foe and show him why no one disgraces the Rong-Kuwei family name" I prayed quietly.

I tapped Takai's sides and charged towards Lu Bu, he would pay for what he done.

He would know why Cao Cao's forces are deeply feared; he will see the ferocity that each of Cao Cao's commanders and soldiers held deep inside.

I jumped off Takai, tackling Lu Bu off his mount. "You shall pay for your insolences!" I barked with authority.

"Heh… You think you can defeat me? You will pay for your arrogances with your life" he replied calmly.

I snarled while grabbing the handle on my waist, and unsheathed my katana; pointing the ever so sharp blade at Lu Bu.

"My blade shall be your downfall" I said softly, getting into a fighting stance.

I was gripping the handle with both hands, glaring at him that would make death me.

He just laughed and pulled his Halberd off his back, "Little girl, you will know the meaning of fear before the morning is out" he replied.

His voice always held authority, I would give him that. I ran towards him, making an upper slash motion, when he blocked it with a vicious grin.

"You actually dare to challenge me? You have courage, can't say much for common sense" he said tauntingly.

I glared at him; I kicked his knee with some force and punched him in the jaw. He snapped his head back, not really fazed.

He gripped my wrist as I went for a one handed cut to his waist; he brought his hand to my jaw and his knee to my stomach.

The air was knocked out of me, my vision was blurring. I felt something pierce the skin of waist; I grunted and fell to my knees.

I grabbed a knife kept on my leg; I slashed at him cutting his hand. I kept slashing repeatedly, cutting up his arms.

I cut his face slightly, and injured his stomach. I collapsed too tired to continue, I felt the bleeding begin to worsen.

I closed my eyes; I was going to die here.

My angry blinded my rational thought, I should have kept my distance like usual; but I wanted him to pay so badly, the feeling consumed me.

I failed my ancestors, failed my soldiers, my comrades, I shamed my mother with this easy defeat he had gained.

I let down my brother, and I failed and shamed my father and the Kuwei family name.

I felt no remorse for failing Cao Cao, the only bright thing about my death was I would be away from Cao Cao.

I would never have to serve him, look at him, or speak to him again. This thought made me feel some happiness, but all I felt was shame and misery.

I faded into blackness; I could still feel my body's pain. He had pierced more the stomach; I felt wounds on my arms, legs and one in my chest.

I imagine I did not feel the pain before, because of the thrill of battle. I failed and shamed my family, I hoped he let die.

I'd rather face death, than live the shame knowing I let down my family and ancestors.

In the back of mind, memories flashed of Zhang He and I spending time together.

He wasn't going to be happy he couldn't teach me to dance properly, that thought brought a small inner smile.


	2. Chapter 2 The Warrior

2

I looked down the foolish woman who dared raise her blade against me, I smirked at her katana.

It was rather large for such a small girl. She had long raven black hair, very pale skin. Her eyes, when she had been conscious were a bright but dark purple.

She had on two pairs of earrings; one had two flowers hanging down. While the other one was just a round stud. She had a stud below her bottom lip as well,

She had a tattoo on the back of her lower arm. It was a full skull with a small red three petal flower with a skull in the middle; it looked like the skull was wearing a headdress.

There was a silver colored vine starting from behind the skull, curving down to the right, and curving back with other vines intertwined and stopped just above her elbow. She had on a metal choker with a thin lining of pink on the top and bottom, while a small four petal flower was in the middle.

She had on a red sleeveless top.

The top part of had bright red designs of vines going around the top, her pants were, big on her small frame, the flowing fabric was a dark pale red.

She was shoeless, only having red bandage wrapped around her ankles and the middle of her foot; as well as it was wrapped around her right arm, letting her left show her tattoo.

Her katana was impressive and crafted impressively.

Diao Chan and Zou Ci walked over looking worn.

"They killed quite a few of our soldiers, then Sun Jian's men joined them and forced us to retreat, they are now fighting amongst themselves" Diao Chan said breathlessly.

"Really?"

"Yes, I am shamed but it could not be helped sadly" Zou Ci said, looking down at the girl.

"So this is the fastest and brightest commander and also the most fierce and loyal commander in Cao Cao's forces" He said calmly.

"I say we take her prisoner, let her sit for a couple days and then have her join us, it's no secret that she despises Cao Cao. Her family served him for generations, but she hates him worth a burning passion. So take her prisoner, you take out one of Cao Cao's commanders, you take his advisor and most favored member of his forces, which would deliver a devastating blow to his forces. Some of his units will crumble if she is gone, Lord Lu Bu" Diao Chan said lightly looking down at the girl.

She looked at the girl's katana, "that's her weapon? It looks too big for her, but it's well made and decorated beautifully" she said softly.

"Lord Lu Bu, I do believe this is Meigui Rong-Kuwei, her mother is in Nanman and her father is dead, along with her brother" Zou Ci said, standing with his hands behind his back.

I nodded and lifted her insignificant weight, "Grab her mount, and bring it here" I commanded one of the soldiers.

They brought the big war horse, and I tossed her over the back of it. I mounted my own horse, grabbed the reins of her horse and started walking back to Jiao Zhi.

"Lord Lu Bu, we do have some tiny good news," Zou Ci said quietly.

"What?" I replied. "A woman came with the reinforcements, we were able to capture the commander named Zhang He, after he got distracted with her showing up trying to take his place" Diao Chan said lightly, riding next to the unconscious girl.

I looked at the man tied up; the soldiers were keeping their distance but still holding the ropes.

"This is Zhang He" Diao Chan said smirking at him, he glared back and then his face went pale at the sight of the girl.

"Meigui! What did you bastards do!" he demanded. "Calm yourself fool, she isn't dead, she just merely unconscious.

I am not going to kill her or you, but you'll have to wait and see what's in store for you" I said looking down at him disdainfully.

How a man can dress so feminine, and still be alive, is beyond my comprehension. We continued on our way, forcing Zhang He to walk.

We were back at in Jiao Zhi, "Put her and the other one in the dungeon, give them a few hours and then we will see what we can get from them" I said walking off towards one of the small villages.

Diao Chan took the girl and the man to the palace, while I went around listening to the locals and what their concerns are and such.

It was annoying, but it had to be done to ensure their loyalty. I returned to the palace three hours later, and found Zou Ci waiting for me.

"The girl is awake and fierce, the man is staying silent; they're both annoyed as well" he said calmly.

I nodded and walked down into the dungeon; I walked to their cell and looked down at them.

The girl had a small scar across her right eye, and had a very serious expression of angry.

"Bastard, who do you think you are? I should reach out rip your throat out!" she demanded while glaring up at me.

I smirked, she had a vipers tongue "I am who I am, now you have two options, one you join me, or two you and ally will die" I said looking down at her with no emotion.

She looked over at him. "Zhang He? What should we do?" Zhang He clenched his jaw. "I don't know" was his only reply.

Meigui looked deep in thought for a moment, "I'll join you, but will you let him go?" she said quietly.

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You heard me" she snapped.

I looked over at Zou Ci, who just nodded.

"Fine, Zou Ci will see him out" I stated looking down at her.

"Meigui, you can't be serious, I'll stay" Zhang He said. She shook her head and shot him an unknown look,

"No, Zhang He… I don't want to go back into Cao Cao's forces" was her only statement to him.

He nodded and walked with Zou Ci, "Standup now" I said looking down at her. She stood up looking at me with a look of hatred; she was a very short woman. Her head was just above my stomach.

"Diao Chan, show her where she'll be staying" I said walking away. "Yes, Lord Lu Bu" she replied walking off with the little woman.

I sat down thinking my next move, "I'll take over Nanman, they have no alliances and no one is focused on them, so we won't meet an unwanted force" I said to Wen Chou.

He nodded with his hand fisted across his chest, "Yes, my lord" he said while bowing.

Diao Chan walked in, "My lord, she is in her room and I think she has useful information" she said softly.

"Fine, bring her here" I replied. Meigui walked in looking sullen, "I plan on taking over Nanman, what do you know of it?" I asked.

"It is a land ruled by a rather large man named Meng Huo, my mother Zhu Rong his second in command. His other officers are Dong Tu Na, Yun Nan and a couple others I cannot think of off the top my head. The land is mostly jungle, hidden paths and such; they have numerous numbers of beast masters. The leader is normally mounted on an elephant to trample his enemies. He is rather high spirited and he fights with giant claws mounted on his wrists." She said softly,

"Anything else?"

"I have one request, if you take my mother prisoner, spare her?" she asked looking down at her folded hands.

"Pardon?" I replied,

"I know I shouldn't ask, but she is my mother and I do not wish see her life ended, and she would be a good add to your forces" she quietly.

She had weakness so it seemed, "I'll give it some thought" I said eyeing her.

She nodded and bowed, "Thank you, My Lord" she said and walked out.

"Kuwei family give their loyalty easily to anyone who prove that they are worthy of having a Kuwei serve them, the family is highly respected and a long line of warriors come from the family she's the first female warrior of the Kuwei family, I assume she gets it from her mother" Zou Ci said walking in.

"I see," I looked down for a minute. "Lord Lu Bu, if you show her your true strength and show you have honor, you will have the respect and loyalty from one of the most favored warriors" Diao Chan said, smiling lightly.

"Alright, she'll see when we take over Nanman, tomorrow morning we move, Diao chan get her new clothes, the ones she has are filthy" I said walking out.

"Yes, my lord" she said and walked out, I was walking down the hallway when I overheard Diao Chan talking with Meigui quietly.

"Cheer up little one, you'll see lord Lu Bu isn't so bad" she said softly.

"I don't care" was the reply,

"Oh?"

"If he is like Cao Cao, having honor, power and that then I will have no resentment, but if he's pathetic like Sun Jian I will hate serving me and I will see my chance to escape when no one is looking" she sounded completely serious.

"Well here are your new clothes, we'll see what they look like tomorrow once we head for Nanman" Diao Chan said walking out of her room.

I went my room and got ready to sleep, I laid down and fell asleep thinking of nothing.

The next morning I walked out into the hall and saw Meigui in the clothes Diao Chan provided; her top had straps going over her shoulders; that were a dark dusk color.

She had black ribbon tired about her wrist and to the middle of her hand; the top showed most of her back.

The top was low on the sides and she had ribbon tied around the bottom of her upper arm and down to her elbow of her right arm, her right arm showed she had a more artistic tattoo then her other one.

It was a tattoo; that started on her shoulder and extended down to her the upper part of her forearm.

The tattoo was black; it was a couple Koi fish. One was black and then another was white, the water was a lighter black.

The water waves were extended down to the ending part of her tattoo, there were red Sakura flowers.

It was very elegant and showed she liked decorating her arms. She had a silver ring on her right hand; she had a necklace of black beads.

She only had one pair of earring in, which were dusk colored studs that matched her clothes, the stud below her lip was a dark purple color.

Her long hair was up in a ponytail with her bangs out, they were layered.

They started short then going longer as they split from her forehead, going just past her chin on the outer part of her bands.

She wore a pair hakamas that were also rather large in the legs, making them flowing slightly when she walked.

The fabric curved down on the sides, showing off her small hips and she had a black belt tied around her waist.

The belt had excess fabric that extended down to the middle of her legs; she had make-up that made the skin around her eyes a darker color.

Her lips were a very light purple, I noticed her eyelashes were very long and thick.

Her eyes were more interesting than I thought her eyes were a bright purple; but they were also dark and intense with much mystery and knowledge in them.

She had dark purple fabric wrapped around her ankles and her foot leaving the heel exposed.

Her left arm was bare except there was a black ribbon tied on her upper arm; her sword was tied to her hip with the belt on her hakamas.

"My Lord," she said bowing deeply,

"You rise early" she smiled softly.

"I have been awake for a few hours now, I was sharping and polishing my blade waiting for someone else to rise" she said in such a soft voice,

she was almost whispering.

"How old are you?" her eyes widened and she looked down at her feet.

"I am only seventeen years of age, My Lord, I know I am very young to be a warrior; but my mother trained me since I was three years old. I can handle my sword very well, and I am a precise shot with a bow and arrow as well with projectile weapons" she said bowing her head.

"I see, we will see your worth when we attack Nanman, now I am on my way to meet with my two commanders for plans" I started walking away,

"My lord, let me go with you, I can tell you about the land and show you the best route to take out their forces quickly and effectively" it all came out in a rush.

I looked back at her; she was looking at her feet with her hands behind her back.

She didn't seem proud of the outburst, "Fine" I said walking away.

I heard her soft footsteps behind me; I walked and saw Diao Chan, Zou Ci and Wen Chou.

"Aw Meigui, you're looking lovely today!" Diao Chan said excitedly.

Zou Ci nodded agreement and Wen Chou was staring intently at her.

I sat down at the head of the table; Diao Chan showed a map of Nanman.

"This is the land of Nanman, it's not a dense jungle, but there are trees and grooves that hide paths. There is one area that is mostly water and swampy, the main base and where the leader stays when not in his palace on the corner on the border. So these are all the paths our scouts were able to find" she said running black ink across the paths.

"May I bring something to light?" Meigui asked quietly, she pulled out red ink and painted a path that was unexpected.

"If you have a unit in that area, they will focus on the main force and then the unit waiting can strike Meng Huo and take him and his land down" I looked over at her, she was sitting on her knees with her hands folded in front of her.

"Then Meigui, you and the unit that will be yours to command will lay in wait while we attack" I said looking at the map.

"Yes, My Lord" I got up and walked out with Diao Chan, Zou Ci, and Meigui. I showed her the unit that would be under her command,

"These are the men" I said and walked off. I looked at Diao Chan with a raised eyebrow, "Is something on your mind Commander?"

"No, I found it funny she's looks so tiny compared to you, she's like a child" she said laughing slightly.

"I will agree she is rather short even for a woman, but she's only seventeen years of age" I replied.

"True, but I find it amusing, plus people may not take her seriously on the battle field, so that may make her angry and slaughter them which would be ironic" she stated examining her nails.

I nodded and saw Zou Ci gathering his unit, "Everything alright Zou Ci?" he nodded.

"Just tired, I got little rest so, but I will serve you well on the battle field despite how tired my bones feel" he replied laughing quietly.

I nodded and walked off towards my unit; I mounted my hex mark and looked at my men.

"We will be invading Nanman, it's a jungle land but nothing we can't handle now, let us go" I stated and started walking off,

Diao Chan ad Zou Ci were behind me with their units and I saw Meigui ride up on her mount, the unit she's was in charge of seemed to have high spirits.

She was silent while watching the sun rise, "You know what to do Meigui?" I asked; she nodded,

"I will wait for my mother and his other officers to move out and then I will storm the main camp and take down Meng Hou, I will not kill him, but I will capture him for you to decide what to do with him" she replied still watching the sun rise.

"Any ideas on how to take care of the beast masters, Meigui?" I asked.

"When I got up I sent five hundred of my gold for reinforcements, we have bandits and beast masters waiting for us, five thousand soldiers for both" she replied.

I nodded; this was going to go well.

We got to our small camp and she wasn't bluffing, five thousand bandits and beast masters were waiting for us to show up.

"You'll get the rest of the gold once we finish invaded Nanman" she said coldly to them.

They all nodded and bowed,

"Now I will take one-thousands of each of you, we will be lying in wait for the main enemy forces to move out, then we're going to storm the main camp" she said riding off with her soldiers, the bandits and the beast masters.

"She's effective." Diao Chan said I nodded while looking out at the rest of my forces.

We were going to have a long but easy road ahead of is,

"Now we charge!" I said to the soldiers. They all raised their weapons letting out war cries.

Today we would be victorious, and they would bow before me.


End file.
